Home | Newsletter | Advertise

Audit Finds Problems With Government's Tax Credit Program

  • May 30th 2011

by UrbanTurf Staff

✉️ Want to forward this article? Click here.

Audit Finds Problems With Government's Tax Credit Program: Figure 1

In his latest column, long-time housing columnist Kenneth Harney writes that an audit has found a number of problems with the government’s tax credit program aimed at helping home owners make energy-efficient improvements to their properties. The audit was conducted by the Treasury Department’s inspector general for tax administration.

Perhaps the most glaring problem revealed in the audit was that those who took advantage of the program did not actually own a home. From the column:

In a review of 5 million returns, auditors found that more than 302,000 taxpayers, who received a total of $234 million in credits from the IRS, showed no evidence of actually owning a home — the minimum requirement for eligibility. A review of a smaller sample of returns, supplemented with local real estate deed information, found that 30 percent “had no record of owning a home.”

The audit, which can be viewed here, reported that more than 6.8 million individuals claimed more than $5.8 billion in residential energy credits on 2009 tax returns processed through December 31, 2010.

See other articles related to: energy efficient, green real estate, irs

This article originally published at https://dc.urbanturf.com/articles/blog/audit_finds_problems_with_governments_tax_credit_program/3571.

Pipeline: New Condos & Apartments Coming to the DC Area

DC Real Estate Guides

Short guides to navigating the DC-area real estate market

We've collected all our helpful guides for buying, selling and renting in and around Washington, DC in one place. Start browsing below!

First-Timer Primers

Intro guides for first-time home buyers

Red Flags Revealed During a Home Inspection Top 5 Tax Breaks For Homeowners Tax Relief for DC Homeowners
Condo Fee Tutorial What is a Rent Back? 10 Ways To Tell If a Home Renovation is Well Done
Obtaining a Basic Business License For Your Rental What is an Adjustable Rate Mortgage? The Splitting the Rent Formula
How Much Cash Do You Need to Buy a House? Is This Condo Building Financially Healthy? Interest Rates and Mortgage Points
The Scoop on Mortgage Insurance

Unique Spaces

Awesome and unusual real estate from across the DC Metro

The Most Intriguing Loft in DC The R Street Firehouse DC’s One-Room House
Dupont Circle’s Old Frat House To Become Alley Home Best Transition From a Garage To a Home The Roundhouse
Tilden Gardens Restaurant-Turned-Home Hits Market Next Week Logan Circle’s Most Intriguing Garage Frank Lloyd Wright Goes Green in Kensington
Sears Bungalow Gets a Modern Makeover Old Town General Store Becomes Three-Level Home Making the Most of a Skinny House
A Studio 27 Renovation on Capitol Hill Once a Carriage House, Now a Home The Bank that Became a Home
From Pie to Hooch to Heroin to Home The Live-Aboards of Gangplank Marina A Treehouse with Rock Creek Park As A Backyard
Modern Tranquility in Sperryville Saddle Up For Stable Living Throwing a Curve at 550 Square Feet
A Modern Hilltop Retreat Tilden Street Restaurant Becomes Spacious Home Focus on Design: A Vastu Unit at 22 West
The DC Area’s First Net Zero Home A Yankee Goes Green DC’s First Carbon Neutral Home
Eco-Friendly Alley House Off H Street The Gym, The Stables and The Firehouse